Solar receiver for a solar concentrator with a linear focus

ABSTRACT

A solar receiver for a linear-focusing solar concentrator, comprising, a base, which is elongated in a direction parallel to a focal line and carries an array of strip-shaped targets arranged orthogonal to said focal line and set at a distance apart from one another in a direction parallel to the focal line; a focusing assembly including an array of optical elements arranged for focusing solar radiation on said strip-shaped targets, the focusing assembly being mobile with respect to the base of the photovoltaic receiver in a direction parallel to said focal line; and an azimuthal pointing device, designed to move the focusing assembly with respect to said base as a function of the position of the sun.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of European Patent Application patent application serial number 09425303.6, filed Jul. 29, 2009, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to the production of energy by means of concentration of solar radiation on photovoltaic or solar receivers.

In solar concentration systems it is desirable to obtain a high concentration of solar energy both for increasing the efficiency and the yield of the solar concentration system and, in the case of photovoltaic systems, for reducing the amount of photovoltaic material.

2. Description of the Related Art

To increase the efficiency of solar concentration systems it is necessary to carry out a pointing of the concentrators both according to the zenithal direction and according to the azimuthal direction. The document No. WO 2005/116534 describes a solar concentrator comprising one or more concave mirrors that are mounted rotatably on a supporting structure about a horizontal axis and are driven by a first motor for changing their zenithal angle, in which the concave mirrors concentrate the solar radiation in the direction of one or more receivers that are fixed with respect to the concave mirrors. The supporting structure is orientable about a vertical axis by means of a second motor designed to adjust the azimuthal angle of the concave mirrors.

The solution described in the document No. WO 2005/116534 is affected by a wide range of drawbacks. A first drawback is that the concentration of solar energy that can be obtained depends exclusively upon the size of the concave mirrors, and to obtain high levels of concentration it is necessary to employ mirrors with large surfaces. A second drawback of the known solution 2005/116534 is that to vary the azimuthal orientation it is necessary to turn the supporting structure of the generator about a vertical axis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a solar receiver that will enable the problems of the known art to be overcome. In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a solar receiver that will enable high levels of concentration of solar radiation to be obtained without an excessive increase of the surface of the concentrator. A further object of the present invention is to provide a solar receiver that will enable azimuthal tracking of the sun with a simple, compact, and inexpensive system that does not require vertical rotation of the concentrator.

According to the present invention, the above objects are achieved by a solar receiver comprising:

-   -   a base, which is elongated in a direction parallel to a focal         line and carries an array of strip-shaped targets arranged         orthogonal to said focal line and set at a distance apart from         one another in a direction parallel to the focal line;     -   a focusing assembly including an array of optical elements         arranged for focusing solar radiation on said strip-shaped         targets, the focusing assembly being mobile with respect to the         base of the photovoltaic receiver in a direction parallel to         said focal line; and     -   an azimuthal pointing device, designed to move the focusing         assembly with respect to said base as a function of the position         of the sun.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a generator of solar energy, which uses a receiver according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the receiver indicated by the arrow II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the receiver of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross section according to the line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross section according to the line V-V of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail of the part indicated by the arrow VI in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIG. 1, designated by 10 is a high-concentration solar-energy generator, which uses a solar receiver according to the present invention. The generator 10 comprises a supporting structure 12 fixed with respect to a stationary base 14. In the example illustrated in the figures, the supporting structure 12 comprises two triangular side supports, each of which is formed by two legs 16 converging upwards. The bottom ends of the legs 16 are fixed to the base 14. The top ends of each pair of legs 16 are fixed to a respective top support 18. The shape of the supporting structure 12 that is illustrated is not, however, binding and may vary according to the applications.

The supporting structure 12 carries a reflector 20, designed to concentrate the solar radiation on a focal line A. In the example illustrated in the figures, the reflector 20 comprises one or more mirrors with a reflecting surface 22 shaped like a parabolic cylinder. The focal axis of the reflecting surface 22 coincides with the focal line A. The reflector 20 is fixed to two side arms 24 that are articulated to the basic structure 12 about an axis of rotation coinciding with the focal axis A. The axis of rotation is defined by bearings (not illustrated) housed in the top supports 18. In the example illustrated in the figures, the focal axis A, which coincides with the axis of rotation of the reflector 20, is horizontal.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the generator 10 comprises a solar receiver 26 having an elongated shape and extending parallel to the focal line A.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the receiver 26 comprises a base 28 of an elongated parallelepipedal shape having two principal plane faces 30, 32 opposite to one another. The base 28 is fixed between the side arms 24 that support the reflector 20.

Applied on the first face 30 of the base 28 is an array of strip-shaped targets 34. The targets 34 can be photovoltaic elements designed to convert solar radiation into electrical energy or else thermal absorbers designed to convert solar radiation into heat.

The targets 34 are in the form of thin parallelepipeds and are oriented in a direction orthogonal to the focal line A. The targets 34 are set at a distance apart from one another in a direction parallel to the focal line A. The distance between adjacent targets 34 is substantially greater than the width of each target 34.

Made on the first face 30 of the base 38 are two guides 36 parallel to the focusing line A and arranged on opposite sides of the array of targets 34. Preferably a thermal collector 38 is applied on the second face 32 of the base 28. In the case where the targets are formed by photovoltaic elements, the thermal collector is constituted, for example, by a finned body, designed to dissipate the heat produced by the receiver 26. In the case where the targets 34 are formed by thermal absorbers, the thermal collector 38 is formed by a duct for the passage of a diathermic fluid.

The solar receiver 26 comprises a focusing assembly 40, which comprises a support 42 and a plurality of optical elements 44. In the example illustrated in the drawings, the optical elements 44 are formed by cylindrical lenses. Alternatively, the optical elements could be formed by mirrors.

The support 42 has a shape elongated in the direction of the focal line A and is substantially U-shaped in cross section, with two side walls 46 set parallel to one another and a bottom wall 48. The bottom wall 48 has a through opening 50 of a flattened rectangular shape, in which the lenses 44 arranged in contact with one another are mounted.

Each lens 44 is set for focusing solar radiation onto a respective target 34. The side walls 46 of the lens support 42 have guides 52 that slidably engage the respective guides 36 of the base 28. Thanks to the engagement between the guides 36 and 52, the focusing assembly 40 is mobile with respect to the base 28 of the receiver 26 in a direction parallel to the focusing line A. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the direction of movement of the lens support 42 with respect to the base 28 is indicated by the arrows B.

With reference to FIG. 1, the generator 10 comprises a zenithal-pointing device for varying the orientation of the reflector 20 as a function of the zenithal angle of the sun. The zenithal-pointing device comprises a photocell sensor 54 fixed with respect to the receiver 26 and to the reflector 20 and designed to detect the position of the sun. The photocell sensor 54 is, for example, fixed to one of the side arms 24. The zenithal-pointing device moreover comprises an electric motor 56 that governs rotation of the reflector 20 about the axis A as a function of the signals coming from the sensor 54. The zenithal-pointing device 54, 56 orients the reflector 20 according to the zenithal direction of the sun.

The receiver 26 comprises an azimuthal-pointing device including an actuator 58, designed to move the focusing assembly 40 with respect to the base 28 of the receiver 26. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the actuator 58 can, for example, be set between one of the side arms 24 and the corresponding front end of the support 42. The actuator 58 is governed by a sensor designed to detect the azimuthal position of the sun. Said sensor may, for example, be made up of two photodiodes 60 (FIG. 5) arranged on opposite sides of a target 34 in a direction parallel to the focal line A.

As illustrated schematically in FIG. 5, the solar radiation reflected by the reflector 20 is concentrated on the lenses 44. Each lens 44 focuses the solar radiation onto a respective target 34. The actuator 58, on the basis of the signals coming from the photodiodes 60, moves the support 42 with respect to the base 28 of the receiver 26 so as to keep the radiation focused by the lenses 44 centred on the target 34. The movement of the focusing assembly 40 with respect to the base 28 replaces the azimuthal orientation of the reflector 20. It is possible to reduce the travel of the focusing assembly 40 with respect to the base 28 by controlling the movement of the focusing assembly 40 so that, when the distance between the centre of each lens 44 and the respective target 34 exceeds a pre-set value, the focusing assembly 40 is displaced in such a way that each lens 44 focuses the solar radiation on a target 34 adjacent to the target previously associated to the lens 44 in question.

The focusing assembly 40 enables considerable increase in the level of concentration of the solar radiation on the targets 34, which in turn enables high levels of efficiency to be obtained. In addition, the axial movement of the focusing assembly 40 replaces the azimuthal orientation of the reflector 20 and enables simplification of the structure and reduction of the cost of the generator 10.

The azimuthal tracking obtained by movement of the focusing assembly 40 moreover enables an improvement in exploitation of the surface available.

The solar concentrator associated to the receiver could form the subject of numerous variants with respect to what has been described previously. For example, the reflector 20, instead of being formed by a parabolic mirror that is able to turn about its own focusing axis, could be formed by a plurality of strip-shaped mirrors arranged parallel to the focusing line A in a way similar to what is described in the international patent application No. PCT/IT2008/000539.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow. 

1. A solar receiver for a linear-focusing solar concentrator, comprising: a base, which is elongated in a direction parallel to a focal line and carries an array of strip-shaped targets arranged orthogonal to said focal line and set at a distance apart from one another in a direction parallel to the focal line; a focusing assembly including an array of optical elements arranged for focusing solar radiation on said strip-shaped targets, the focusing assembly being mobile with respect to the base of the photovoltaic receiver in a direction parallel to said focal line; and an azimuthal pointing device, designed to move the focusing assembly with respect to said base as a function of the position of the sun.
 2. The solar receiver according to claim 1, wherein each of said optical elements is associated to a respective strip-shaped target.
 3. The solar receiver according to claim 1, wherein said strip-shaped targets are set at a distance apart from one another in a direction parallel to said focusing line by a distance substantially greater than the width of each strip-shaped target in said direction.
 4. The solar receiver according to claim 1, wherein said azimuthal pointing device comprises at least two photodetectors fixed to the base of the receiver on opposite sides of a strip-shaped target in a direction parallel to said focal line.
 5. The solar receiver according to claim 1, wherein the base has the shape of an elongated parallelepiped with two principal faces set parallel to one another, on a first face there being fixed strip-shaped photovoltaic targets and on a second face there being fixed a thermal collector.
 6. The solar receiver according to claim 5, wherein said focusing assembly comprises a support carrying said optical elements and slidably coupled to said base by means of guides. 